My heart goes out for Eli. At this very moment, I wish I was in Caleb's position even though I'm probably even worse than Eli at comforting people. All I know how to do is to persuade people to talk, and even then it doesn't work when I'm in person. Caleb, somehow, has wormed his way into a little hole in my heart, a place that needs restitching and salving and plenty of, well, support.

Is it weird that I'm now relying on a fictional character to heal me, even if vicariously through another fictional character?

This has somehow also become my own life support. I look forward to scrolling through the fictionpress pages to look for Life Support, knowing that no matter how shitty my day has gone, there was always this story to read and reread and think about. I always exit out with a greater peace of mind and somehow, I always feel a lot better.